Boy Horse Shoe Bed
Residency and activities by Townley and Bradby
Sunday 24th - Friday 29th October 2010
Various locations, Lincoln

Townely and Bradby,
accompanied by their two children, spent a week in residence with Lincoln Art Programme. During their time in the city they sort to question being both an artist and a family unit, investigating the impact that both aspects of their lives have upon each other. Every day Townley and Bradby opened their temporary home to the residence of the city; inviting them to join in their family activities. Each morning the artists developed a response to the people who visited.  During these sessions visitors where encouraged to participant in activities such as drawing and playing, as well as discussing their own family tradition. In holding an open house Townley and Bradby asked the audience to question the link between housework and artwork, as well as the types of homes creative people keep. By exposing their own domesticity, the family celebrated the everyday, finding new creativity in the repetition that routine often brings.

During the residency Townley and Bradby hosted a performance lecture investigating their practice. The lecture took two artists talks one visual, and one spoken and performed them simultaneously. The two presentations occurred opposite one another giving the audience the option of fully engaging with only one presentation. The seating layout presented rows of chairs facing opposite directions in which the audience must choose which way to sit and engage with the presentations. The performance lecture was an incite into the wider practice of Townley and Bradby complementing the exploration of their life style.

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Photo Credits, James E Smith

On their final day Townley and Bradby led participants on an alternative tour of the city. Unlike the routes devised by the local tourist information, this 40-minute walk was shaped by the observations of their children. The tour saw participants play follow the leader around the streets on Lincoln, carefully hopping down Steep Hill so not to tread on the cracks, crunching dried leaves and whispering secrets to one and other above the noise of traffic on Lindum Road. Townley and Bradby’s role moved fluidly between tour guide and that of their children, reenacting their tumbles and poignant observations. They also posed several rhetorical questions and highlighted elements of the city in order to prompt the participants to reevaluate their surroundings. Aware that it is often the role of the parent to devise routines, this tour relinquished responsibility, instead allowing their children to dictate the direction and speed. It gave the audience an opportunity to view Lincoln through the eyes of a child, exploring the hidden experiences of the city that are not lived in adult life.